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Marine bacteria are able to biodegrade diesel in the Canadian Arctic

by Tess Hutchinson

Marine bacteria in the icy waters of the Canadian Arctic are able to biodegrade petroleum and diesel fuel, according to a new study published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

Genomic sequencing has revealed unexpected potential for bioremediation of hydrocarbons in bacterial strains including Paraperlucidibaca, Cycloclasticus and Zhongshania, said co-author Casey Hubert, Ph.D., associate professor of geomicrobiology, University of Calgary. These “can represent key players in the response to marine oil spills in the Arctic”.

“The study also confirmed that nutrient input can improve the biodegradation of hydrocarbons under these low temperature conditions,” said Dr Hubert.

The impetus of this work: “These permanently cold waters are experiencing increasing industrial activity linked to maritime transport and to activities in the offshore oil and gas sector,” said Dr Hubert.

Sean Murphy, a student of Dr Hubert, who grew up in the region, is the instigator of the project. Mr. Murphy, Aquatic Scientist, ERM Canada, highlighted the benefits offshore oil has brought to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, but was deeply concerned about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and focused his mastery research in the Labrador Sea on “Helping to inform future low temperature… oil spill mitigation strategies in the region. “

The Labrador coast – where the study was conducted – is important to indigenous peoples who depend on the ocean for food, and unlike at lower latitudes, there is little bioremediation research in this far north, noted Dr Hubert.

“As climate change prolongs ice-free periods and increased industrial activity occurs in the Arctic, it is important to understand the ways in which the Arctic marine microbiome will respond to an oil or fuel spill,” said said Dr Hubert. This is all the more important as “this region remains vast and remote, so the emergency response to oil spills would be heavy and slow”.

In the study, researchers simulated the remediation of an oil spill inside bottles by combining mud from the top few inches of the seabed with artificial seawater and diesel or crude oil, as well as different nutrient additives at different concentrations.

The experiments were carried out at 4 degrees, to approach the temperature of the Labrador Sea, and took place over several weeks. “Our simulations have shown that the bacteria naturally present in the oil-degrading ocean represent nature’s first responses to an oil spill,” said Dr Hubert.

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